A Colorado woman is facing negligence and animal cruelty charges after her mother with dementia was allegedly left alone in a home where she was mauled to death by dogs.
Jessica Hoff, 47, was arrested last week following a Feb. 3 report of an unconscious woman at a home in Colorado City, a rural town about 140 miles south of Denver in Pueblo County.
Deputies arrived at the residence and found LaVonne Hoff, 76, unresponsive with dozens of dogs in cages and several “loose” in the house. The elderly woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
An investigation found she was attacked by the dogs while her daughter was running errands roughly 25 miles away in Pueblo, despite the woman needing 24-hour care for her dementia. An autopsy confirmed the dog attack as the cause of death.
“Detectives executed a search warrant on the home and a second property Jessica Hoff had in Colorado City and located a total of 54 dogs and the seven birds in her possession,” the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office said. “The dogs and birds were found living in unsanitary conditions and several of the dogs were in poor health.”
The animals were all removed from the two properties by animal control.
Hoff was charged with criminal negligence resulting in the death of an at-risk adult along with 54 counts of aggravated animal cruelty.
She is being held in the Pueblo County Jail on a $50,000 bond and is is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday.